Cho Kuk, the former emergency committee chairman of the Cho Kuk Innovation Party, claimed that the organized backlash within the prosecution regarding the decision to abandon the appeal in the ‘Daejang-dong case’ is actually aimed at securing the prosecution’s supplementary investigation rights.
On the night of the 10th, Cho appeared on MBC Radio and said, “Both the prosecution and Han Dong-hoon seem to be excited,” and explained, “Regarding the prosecution reform, the revised Government Organization Act was passed, separating investigation and prosecution. What remains is the issue of the prosecution’s direct supplementary investigation rights.” He suggested that the backlash is an attempt to secure those rights.
Regarding the opposition’s claims that the abandonment of the appeal was to protect President Lee Jae-myung, Cho defended the president by stating, “Nowhere in the ruling does it say that President Lee is responsible for the convictions of the private operators involved in the Daejang-dong case, yet a narrative has been created to make it appear that the appeal was abandoned to protect him.”
Cho also criticized the selective backlash from the prosecution by saying, “When the prosecution previously cleared Kim Kun-hee in the luxury bags and Deutsche Motors stock manipulation cases, no prosecutor or chief protested.” He added, “When Judge Ji Guyon used a strange calculation method to release Yoon Seok-youl and the prosecutor general abandoned the appeal, the chief prosecutors were silent.”
On the statement by Han Dong-hoon, a former representative of the People Power Party, who described the abandonment of the appeal as the ‘suicide of the prosecution,’ Cho responded, “That’s absurd,” and argued, “The ones who have driven the prosecution to its death are political prosecutors like Yoon Seok-youl and Han Dong-hoon.”
He further suggested, “Han Dong-hoon, being overshadowed by the leader Jang Dong-hyuk within the People Power Party, seems to be using this opportunity to compete for party leadership and boost his presence through issue fighting.”